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U.S. gasoline prices at the pump are likely to vary from $3.55 to $3.70 a gallon on average this summer, AAA said on Monday.

“Expect a feeling of déjà vu with gasoline costing about the same as last summer,” said Avery Ash, AAA spokesman. Gas prices averaged $3.60 in June 2013, $3.50 in June 2012 and $3.68 in June 2011.

Bloomberg

AAA emphasized that “major refinery disruptions, geopolitical concerns or a damaging [Atlantic] hurricane season could send prices higher than forecast,” but it also said that gasoline prices could fall about 10 cents a gallon this month from the current level if refinery production increases as anticipated.

A spokesman for AAA said on Friday that the U.S. Energy Department’s creation of the first federal regional gasoline reserve, in addition to the long-maintained Strategic Petroleum Reserve of crude oil, is “one more potential tool to help consumers.”

The Energy Department said it will establish two Northeast reserve locations near New York Harbor and in New England, based on what the Energy Department learned from the major fuel supply disruption in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Each location will store 500,000 barrels of gasoline.

Despite increases in gasoline prices over the majority of the last two months, drivers have seen the lowest gasoline prices for March in four years, and prices will likely see a spring peak in April, AAA said on Monday.

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On Monday, the average national price for regular gasoline stood at $3.555 a gallon, the highest daily average since Sept. 11 of last year, and prices have climbed 49 out of 52 days by a total of 29 cents a gallon. However, the monthly average of $3.507 was the least expensive for March since 2010, AAA said.

“Gas prices are less expensive than in recent years primarily because many refineries have increased capacity to take advantage of North American crude oil production,” AAA said, and “gasoline demand was relatively weak during much of the winter due to strong storms and colder-than-normal temperatures.”

AAA expects the national average gas price to peak in April at $3.55 to $3.75 a gallon. It said the national average will remain less expensive than last year’s peak of $3.79.

The average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline at the pump has climbed for 17 days in a row for a total of about 15 cents a gallon, according to AAA — and prices are likely to continue to rise in the weeks ahead.

Bloomberg

That’s the largest increase since mid-July and the longest streak of daily increases since last May, the leisure travel and motorist group said on Monday. The average price for regular gas stood at $3.419 a gallon Monday, up from $3.409 Sunday, according to AAA\’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

“It is clear that drivers will continue to pay rising gas prices as we enter the heart of the refinery maintenance season,” said Michael Green, an AAA spokesman. Refineries often schedule maintenance during the first quarter of the year, a period when demand for gasoline tends to slow.

Gasoline prices at the pump have been climbing for 15 days in a row, and motorists this Memorial Day likely face the highest prices for the holiday since 2011, according to AAA.

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The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $3.65 on Monday, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That was the highest national average since March 26. It’s also up from $3.579 a week ago.

AAA expects the average price to rise over the next few days leading up to Memorial Day, pointing out that the average price on Memorial Day last year was $3.64 and the average for that day in 2011 was $3.79.

Gasoline prices have increased nationwide due to “higher oil prices and tight supplies in many parts of the country,” according to AAA spokesman Michael Green.

The national average price of gasoline fell in March for the first time in a decade — and its down nearly 30 cents a gallon from a year ago, according to AAA.

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Prices fell 15 cents a gallon in March, the first month-over-month decline for March since 2003, when the average declined by 1 cent per gallon, AAA said.

“It is very unusual for gas prices to decline in early spring like we have seen this year,” said AAA spokesman Avery Ash, in a statement, attributing the price fall to an increase in refinery production and lower oil prices in early March.

The average price for a regular gallon has jumped more than 17 cents, or 5.2%, from a week ago – the fastest weekly rate in nearly two years, according to AAA.

Prices stood at $3.52 a gallon Monday, up 17.4 cents from a week ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A month ago, it stood at $3.299 and a year ago it was at $3.48.

The last time prices increased as quickly in one week was in 2011, when the average jumped 18.4 cents, or 5.6%, during the week of Feb. 25 through March 4, according to Michael Green, an AAA spokesman.

The number of U.S. travelers this Thanksgiving holiday will likely climb this year, for a fourth year in a row, according to press release from AAA issued Tuesday.

AAA predicts that 43.6 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period from Nov. 21 to Nov. 25, up 0.7% over those who traveled last year. The increase marks the fourth-consecutive year of growing holiday travelers since 2008, when Thanksgiving travel fell by 25%.

Since Thanksgiving travel hit a decade low in 2008, “we have seen a steady increase in the number of travelers taking to the roads and skies for the holiday,” said AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet, in a statement.

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